See the comics section for the pages in between. The story will start to make sense soon, I promise!
Tonight is my 10 year high school reunion. Yeah, I’m not sure why they scheduled it for August instead of Thanksgiving weekend like normal people. Regardless, I won’t be able to go, unless there was a change of venue to Los Angeles at the last minute.
But I felt that was the perfect tie-in to a comic I’ve been sitting on for a long time, “Anyone But Virginia.” (Some of you have mini comics of the first three issues, for sale in our store). The first seven pages are up in the comics section, more to come every week! Click the image above to go there. So there it is, enjoy!
One week from today is my 10-year high school reunion. Sadly (or, fortunately, depending on what mood I’m in), I’m not going. I mean, I thought these things were supposed to be the weekend after Thanksgiving?
ANYWAYS… to honor the event, or, rather the 10 years since I concealed a supersoaker under my graduation robe, I’ll be posting my long-in-the-works comic “Anyone But Virginia” (which, if you’ve picked up a mini comic either here or at a show, you know relates to the occasion).
Zac is still working on the comic, but we’ve got a lot of pages to post, so enjoy! Come back Saturday for the first seven pages, then at least one a week on! Oh, and Zac’ll be posting a his site.
What’s neat about the book is it was written so long ago (2004) that I get to see how I’ve grown as a writer and how Zac has grown as an illustrator. Plus, I’m relettering the book, so I can fix some mistakes and update it.
Enjoy!
 
So here’s the thing: Being back in school I basically have no money, let alone to drop $4 on a comic book (yep, that’s the new monthly price for most books).
I mean, I also like to eat. And pay for beer. In the last few months I’ve dropped most of the books I’d been buying for years– including Uncanny X-Men, which I’ve read since I was 11.
I’m down to about 5 “monthly” books, most of which rarely come out (I think the last issue of “Optic Nerve” came out in 2006), two series in trades and the occasional Top Shelf or Oni publication. And, I’m now down to one superhero book, the recently relaunched “Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man.”
The point of all of this? This comic makes me feel like I’m 11 again. I can’t think of any higher praise. It’s fucking awesome. If you read comics (yes, you, Dave Burg), do yourself a favor and check it out. If you don’t, still do. It’s great serialized storytelling, as influenced as much as by John Hughes as it is Stan Lee. All readily available in trades. Thank me later.
I received the unfortunate word that John Hughes had died last week via text from Eric. I was driving up to San Francisco to visit some friends and give an interview to the SF Jewish Week (which should hopefully hit the Internet soon).
I can only think of a few other people I’ve never met who have had more influence on my work or life. And, what’s amazing about Hughes, is it’s pretty much because of one movie, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” I never saw “The Breakfast Club” or “16 Candles,” which are regarded as his other two classics, until college and grad school, respectively. But “Ferris” was on instant repeat, from the first time it captured my imagination at a camp movie night in 1988 to every time I stumble upon it on basic cable reruns. Even this article in today’s Washington Post, an essay from a guy who may or may not have been the real-life Ferris, made me smile.
In my own work, look no further than the old Liberal Crap thread “George W. Bush’s Day Off,” for the most obvious influence/homage, or to my dumb pop-culture piece celebrating Bueller’s 20th birthday in 2006. Both of which don’t hold up nearly as well as the movie.
I’ve posted that peice below. John Hughes, thank you. Read the rest of this entry »
I drew this a couple years back. It was originally intended as a present for an ex, but I never got around to finishing it. I still haven’t, don’t know if I will (it’s kind of a mess), but there are some cool moments here that I’m proud of.
I dug this up because I wanted to post it and also I’ve been considering doing a series of pop-culture prints. Apparently these things make a killing at comic shows and any chance I can get to have more products, the better. I’m thinking a series of 5-10 or so from pop culture, like Potter, that people might actually buy. But we’ll see… I’ve got a book to finish first!
(oh, click on the image for a larger version)
